By Tony Fitzpatrick
Barbara A. Schaal, Ph.D., professor of biology in Arts & Sciences and of genetics at the School of Medicine, is to be named the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences.
"Barbara's outstanding research has led to her membership in the national academy, one of the highest honors a research scientist can receive in this country," said Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., executive vice chancellor and dean of Arts & Sciences. "And along with her notable research, Professor Schaal is a superb teacher and splendid University citizen. She has taught courses in population biology and genetics, as well as parti-cipating on an interdisciplinary team teaching a freshman seminar, 'Lewis and Clark and the American Experience.' She served with distinction as chair of the Department of Biology from 1993 to 1997 and has made many key contributions to University life in her time here.
"She is a much sought-after speaker at symposia throughout the country," Macias went on. "Her expertise has made her a popular mentor of doctoral candidates, and her students have been particularly successful in securing positions at prestigious universities."
Schaal earned a bachelor's degree with honors in biology from the University of Illinois, Chicago, in 1969, and master's and Ph.D. degrees in 1971 and 1974, respectively, both in population biology and both from Yale University. She joined the faculty of Arts & Sciences here in 1980 as associate professor of biology and became full professor in 1986.
Schaal's research investigates the evolutionary process within plant populations using a wide variety of techniques, from field observations to quantitative genetics and molecular biology. Schaal has studied hosts of plant species ranging from oak trees to Mead's milkweed, a midwestern prairie plant. Her recent work has turned to wild relatives of crop species, such as cassava, a major subsistence crop of the tropics.
She is known for applying molecular genetic techniques to the study of plant evolution. Current projects in her lab, many in collaboration with researchers from the Missouri Botanical Garden, span the range from molecular evolution of specific DNA sequences to higher level systematics and analysis of developmental patterns.
Schaal was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and, in 1999, a member of the National Academy of Sciences. In addition, she serves on the board of trustees of the St. Louis Academy of Sciences and the Missouri Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. She has been associate editor of the journals Molecular Biology and Evolution, The American Journal of Botany, Molecular Ecology, and Conservation Genetics. She was president of the Botanical Society of America in 1995-96.
Schaal has been a member of the University College Advisory Committee since 1987; a member of the Arts & Sciences Faculty Council from 1990 to 1993, serving as chair in 1992-93; and on the University Faculty Senate from 1995 to 1997. She currently serves on the Academic Planning Committee in Arts & Sciences and the new curriculum Implementation Committee.
She also has been a representative to several University-wide activities, among them the Olin Fellowship Committee, the University Affirmative Action Committee and the Board of Trustees Education Committee, and she has been Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton's representative to the Missouri Botanical Garden board of trustees. Schaal was honored in 1998 with a Distinguished Faculty Award at Founders Day.
Spencer Truman Olin was a longtime trustee and benefactor of the University. A noted St. Louis area industrialist and philanthropist, he was elected a University trustee in 1957 and served as counselor to three chancellors.
The Olins were generous donors to numerous institutions. Through their philanthropy, the University has the Spencer T. Olin Residence Hall on the Medical Campus, the Ann Whitney Olin Women's Building on the Hilltop Campus, the Spencer T. Olin Professorship in Psychiatry, the Mr. & Mrs. Spencer T. Olin Fellowships for Women in Graduate Studies, the James E. Whitney Scholarships, the Spencer T. Olin Professorship of Engineering and Applied Science, and three Spencer T. Olin professorships in Arts & Sciences.
The first Arts & Sciences professorship was awarded in 1996 to Douglass C. North, Ph.D., professor of economics, and second in 1999 to Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., professor and chair of biology.